Old Stuff

These maps use older versions of the catalogs, with some duplications and
mistakes. Especially mistaken was the size of the nebulae, where I have
now updated the formula to a more conservative estimate.

Galactic Maps

The red axis points towards the galactic center to the right, the green
points up from the galactic plane. The bluegreen circles mark 100, 1000
and 10,000 lightyears from the sun. This map only uses the brightest stars,
mainly as markers. If things look too dark it may be the browser or screen
settings, try saving the pictures and view them in another program.

As we zoom in we can see the Orion arm in the center, with faint hints
of the Perseus arm to the left and the Sagittarius arm to the right. Especially
notable is the big complex of clouds linked with the Orion nebula/Barnard's
loop, and the big but loose stellar associations close to the sun.

When you plot only the open clusters, the stellar arms become visible
(with some imagination): 40000
ly view. The Orion arm is at the center, extending upwards and downwards
with a ~30 degree slant. To the right, below the red axis part of the Sagittarius
arm can be seen (the upper right quadrant is largely obscured by dust).
To the left in the upper quadrant the Perseus arm can be seen.

I also tested using the Yale Bright Star map, which resulted in the
following view from 500 ly away (only stars closer than 300 ly have
names; they are slightly offset due to the naming format). Source
code.

This is of course not a very good visualisation, but shows at least
some of the distribution of notable stars. See Nyrath's
pages for much more information and data that can be used.